Shults’ Impresses with Disturbing “It Happens At Night”
A24 Films may be promoting Trey Edwards Shults It Comes at Night as another apocalyptic, zombie feature, but there’s far more that lurks beneath its dark surface. Concentrating on the corrosive power fear has over us and the most base elements of human nature, the film is more an examination of the monsters we become…
A Worthy “Mummy” for a New Generation
Universal Pictures has a great deal riding on Alex Kurtzman’s The Mummy. Having witnessed the global success of Marvel Films interconnected superhero movies; the powers that be at the studio have approved a series of crossover films featuring their stable of monster characters, to be known as the Dark Universe. Johnny Depp is on board to…
Lasting impressions
In this week’s column I say my two cents’ worth about the warehousing of State of Illinois documents, which is, pretty much, that storing such documents on acid-free paper in a controlled environment of a warehouse is probably the best solution, digitization being both more costly and less reliably durable than print. But there are storage…
Enough stuff?
The Papers of Abraham Lincoln Project is shutting down the search for documents at the national archives in Washington, D.C., where the bulk of papers related to the Great Emancipator have been located. The project has two researchers based at the archives. Illinois Times has learned that both will lose their jobs on June 30.…
“He will not settle”: Will Howarth on Thoreau
Wandering the web, I ran across something new by Will Howarth, in American Scholar. Howarth, as some of our readers will know, is a local-boy-made-good. A 1958 grad of SHS (of whose Hall of Fame he is a member), this son of Mayor Nelson Howarth has taught at Princeton since 1966. He is a former…
Missing links
If Mr. Rauner thinks that reforming Illinois’ workers’ comp is hard, wait until he tries to reform the state’s geology. It turns out that yet another reason Illinois Inc. is not economically competitive with neighbor states is that its landscape is too plain. We know that because golf course developer Mike Keiser said so to…
Where does inequality come from?
The vast inequality that’s rending our society is not a natural, inevitable or accidental phenomenon – it’s caused intentionally by policy-decisions that corporate and political officials make, often in tandem. Every now and then, we commoners get a glimpse of inequality in the making, as we did recently when the GOP Boss of the House,…
Is K-12 the key to getting this done?
House Speaker Michael Madigan was his usual self during the final week of the General Assembly’s spring session, passing bills to make one point or another, but not actually accomplishing anything. Bills are routinely moved in the House for the sole purpose of creating TV ads or direct mail pieces or newspaper headlines. Madigan’s only…
Letters to the Editor 6/8/17
DIVERSE AND PROUDI am an avid reader of your paper and generally look forward to your weekly editions. I was happy to see that you covered pride and put it on the cover of your May 18 edition (“The gayest day,” by Scott Faingold). However, I was disappointed to see all white people on…
Editor’s Note 6/8/17
I’m pleased to announce that Michelle Ownbey was recently promoted to publisher of Illinois Times and Springfield Business Journal. She was associate publisher of Springfield Business Journal since January 2014, when it was acquired by Illinois Times. Earlier in her career, Michelle had been advertising manager of the Springfield Business Journal from 2001 to 2006,…
Mental health budget cuts are insane
President Trump and Republican congressional leaders justifiably want to curb the alarming growth in government health care spending. Their proposed solution? Cut $880 billion in federal funds from Medicaid over the next 10 years. Their plan wouldn’t necessarily reduce government spending. At best, it would just shift the burden from federal taxpayers to state taxpayers.…
Relive the golden age of aviation
Experience the golden age of aviation by flying on the Ford Tri-Motor, the plane that revolutionized luxury commercial airline travel. The Ford 4-AT-E aircraft, nicknamed the “Tin Goose,” is available for rides Thursday from 2-5 p.m., and Friday through Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. After its first flight on Aug. 21, 1929,…
Vehicles for artistic expression
On Saturday, June 10, join Our Vibrant Community in Enos Park for a free bike parade designed to increase visibility for cycling as participants inventively decorate their bikes into art bikes for a group ride. From 1-3 p.m., participants will undergo bicycle safety training and decorate their bikes creatively for the parade, led by Andrew…
Midwest motorcycle mecca
If you ride fast and crash, you are a bad rider. If you go slow and crash, you are a bad rider. And if you are a bad rider, you should not ride motorcycles. – Hunter S. Thompson Each spring, like swallows to Capistrano, motorcyclists flock to Martinsville, 120 miles southeast of Springfield and…
Art music from the heartland
“I’m mostly interested in expanding the palette of sound,” said Chatham-based musician Mark Schwartz, who records under the name Forest Saints. “I don’t really see a distinction between music, noise and sound – it’s all fair game.”Recently, Schwartz has developed into a veritable one-man art-rock cottage industry. Over the past 12 months, he has self-released…
Deputy under fire fibs
A Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy lied during an investigation into alleged steroid use but is due to return to duty on June 30, a month after serving a six-month suspension, according to internal affairs files. John Bartello, a 10-year veteran of the force, acknowledged steroid use dating back to high school, according to internal affairs…
Carillon Festival concludes Friday
The carillon in Washington Park is not only a familiar icon to Springfield residents, it is also known internationally as one of the world’s largest and best carillons. The final two nights of the 56th annual International Carillon Festival are Thursday and Friday. Bring a blanket or lawn chair, and enjoy an evening of music.…
Central Illinois school district funding can increase
If school funding legislation passed by the General Assembly becomes law, central Illinois school districts could see a significant increase. However, Gov. Bruce Rauner may be reluctant to approve the measure because of a proposed $300 million increase that would go to Chicago Public Schools (CPS). On May 31, the General Assembly passed a bill…
Wonder Woman a heroine for the ages
The wait was long, but it was worth it. Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman is an inspired breath of fresh air in the DC Comics movie universe, standing in stark contrast to the dark and grimy visions of Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Driven by a sense of purpose…
Wise up to Dumb Fest
I hate to admit this to you, my friendly readers, but today my eyes would much rather be staring at beautiful blue skies than the blue screen of the Macbook in my lap. Let’s get to it, shall we? Welcome to Dumb Fest weekend, which covers three days worth of very cool and extremely expressive…
Rays
Hailing from Oakland, California, bandmates Stanley Martinez (guitar, vocals, violin), Eve Hannan (bass, vocals), Alexa Pantalone (drums, synth) and Troy Hewitt (guitar, organ, piano, synth) are now on a month-long jaunt across America. Starting in Chicago and covering the Midwest, they’re working their way to Brooklyn and back, playing every day, somewhere, somehow from June…
What makes the Magic Kitchen magic
Thirty-four years ago I heard about a little coffee shop in the parking lot of a shabby motel on Springfield’s north side that had unlikely pairing of corndogs and Thai food on the menu. Even though I had spent the last four years in Chicago and had dined in dozens of Asian restaurants, I had…
Silicone Valley
I’m a guy who hates fake boobs. I’ve dumped women I really liked upon discovering they have them. Total dealbreaker for me. However, I obviously can’t just ask whether a woman has them. What should I do? I don’t want to waste my time or hers. — Real Deal Right. Not exactly a first-date question:…
adventure poem #1
the anonymous student from theseventies reminded me of a writingassignment I once gave: “1. Have anadventure. 2. Write about it.” themuch appreciated letter got methinking about adventure – nodoubt someone asked what sort ofadventure I surely replied “howeveryou define the word” all life is anadventure when my daughter age10 came back from visiting thethicket beside…
